P a i n f u l P r e s e n c e
by xxBurningxx
Summary: So, he sits and allows her tears to fall on his shirt, because he of all people, can say he shares the burden of losing someone to the fiery nightmare of Heavenly Host Elementary.


**Story Note: After the game, contains spoilers. Rated K+ for very mild language and not much else. Short one-shot. There will be no sequel to this, seeing as I don't write multi-chaps very often.  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own Corpse Party...  
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**Painful Essence**

**by.** _xxBurningxx_

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"Hey...Thanks for staying after school to help me clean this up..." she tells him, with a sniff. She wipes at her eyes again.

"Uh, yeah, it's no problem," Yoshiki says, as he scrubs harshly at the desk at what appears to be dried up icing. All of the people whom had recently attended the small Christmas get-together in classroom 2-9 have already departed, leaving in their wake a large mess of candy cane wrappers and discarded items that have all seemingly missed the trashcan. Had Ms. Yui was still been the teacher, she would have offered to stay and help out, but Mr. Matsudo would never propose such an act kindness. He doesn't care about his students the way Ms. Yui did, and it seems that he dislikes the five survivors of the Heavenly Host incident even more than the others kids in their class.

During then entire party, Yoshiki hangs to the back of the classroom, observing the on-goings of everyone else. At one point, Satoshi asks him if he wants to come join one of the conversations he's having, but Yoshiki politely refuses the offer. He just isn't in the mood to speak with anyone, so instead he closely watches as Ayumi plays the role as hostess whilst Matsudo sits plump behind his desk messing around on his phone, rather than watching to make sure someone doesn't keel over on cookie-overdose.

Near the end of the party, Ayumi asks Mr. Matsudo if he would like to stay and help her, but the moment the words are out of her mouth he replies with a quick wave of dismissal and gruff, "No. It was your idea; it's your responsibility. Besides, since you're all _high and mighty_ class representative, you outta be able to handle it yourself, shouldn't you?" There is a tint of sarcasm at the end of his message, and she isn't sure how to respond. Anger plagues her mind at that moment in time and she feels like lashing out at the hateful teacher.

But she can't do that, so she watches as the classroom slowly begins to empty, and then finally as Mr. Matsudo leaves, disregarding her presence. She stares at the door as it swings shut, and she can't help herself. She coughs, and immediately finds tears running down her face out of frustration and anger towards the heartless man. She wants to scream. She wants to kick something. Most of all, she wants her most favorite teacher back. She desperately needs Ms. Yui to be the one leading their class, not this sad excuse of a human being.

She doesn't notice Yoshiki in the room with her until he makes an uncomfortable and awkward cough, announcing his presence. "Ayahh!" she gasps, and spins around, frantically wiping away at her eyes until she realizes who it is. The moment she sees him, her shoulders slump, and she doesn't bother to hide her tears. He's already seen her cry such a countless number of times that it doesn't even matter anymore.

"...Did you see that back there..." she asks, referring to her and Matsudo's short conversation. He nods, and then sighs. Yoshiki understands, because he's gotten similar responses from the teacher, and he too has felt the incredible anger at Mr. Matsudo. Although, Yoshiki hadn't shared the same kind of bond with Ms. Yui as Ayumi did, it was still enough to make him miss her deeply.

"I'll stay and help..." he tells her, and starts picking up wrappers and other pieces of trash haphazardly tossed on the ground.

"No, you don't have to if-" she starts quickly, but he cuts her off.

"It'll take you hours to clean this up by yourself, and besides...I'd rather not leave you here alone." She can tell just by his tone what he's talking about. Perhaps, there was a time when she wouldn't have refused his presence there all together, forcing him to leave the classroom because there was no real reason for him to be there. But if that time existed, it no longer does, because instead she's grateful for his offer. In fact, she almost sighed in relief when he said he'd stay, because she's not sure that she'd be able to stay there by herself without panicking.

Because the sun is falling and it's raining outside...

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She's wiping a desk chair the wave crashes over her. It's already been four months since the incident, and yet, the despair and horror still lingers in her head, simmering until it's about to overflow. Everything. Ms. Yui, Morishige, Mayu...She's already been here, done this. The wave of emotions has attacked her once, and here it is again, and there's an incredible sense of de ja vu, and yet, here she is, falling to her knees and panting, feeling the hyperventilation starting to kick in.

"Ayumi! A-are you alright?" Yoshiki asks, running over to her. She sobs without making any noise, like when laughing, only the complete opposite. Why? Why!? In the end, they saved their own lives, but still, there were innocent people being sucked into Heavenly Host Elementary every day. They hadn't changed a thing! They were just a few lucky bastards who fought their way out. What justice was there in that? Nothing. That's all, nothing!

Her throat was beginning to sting mercilessly from sobbing, and her chest ached, probably because she couldn't intake enough oxygen.

"Ayumi, come on, it's all right.." Yoshiki tells her softly, laying a hand on her shoulder. Slowly, but surely, her breathing slows. Although the salty liquid still streams down her face, she still can't keep her breath from hitching every time she inhales. Yoshiki is leaning down next to her now, rubbing small comforting circles in the middle of her back, and she is thankful. Thankful that someone is there, someone who understands what she must be feeling, to an extent anyway.

She's not sure when, but at some point she slumps into him, leaning into his chest and letting little whimpers escape her throat. And he lets, because really, what else is he supposed to do? Suddenly get up and leave. Nope, he couldn't do that; he cares about Ayumi for such heartless actions. So, he sits and allows her tears to fall on his shirt, because he of all people, can say he shares the burden of losing someone to the fiery nightmare of Heavenly Host Elementary.

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**A/N: Hi!~ Thank you for reading this. This sucked very bad, I am aware of this, but that's only because it's my first time writing for this fandom. Usually, the first thing for any fandom (for me at least) comes out pretty bad, so please don't get a bad impression about this one. You may or may not see more from me for this ship, and maybe possibly Morishige x Mayu. Anyways, I will not beg you to review, but I will let you know that they make me super happy (as they do for any author) and inspire me to write. So, that said, if you want to see more from me, drop a review or favorite~ It means a lot to me.**

**I'm going to take a shot at explaining the format of this. Basically, it's a loop. We start off in the future, where Yoshiki is helping Ayumi, and right after that, we experience the past, all the way up to the point shortly before the beginning. Did that make any sense?  
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**Anyhoo!~ Thanks! :)  
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